Computer Ethics (CIS 12W/Philosophy 14.

4W) Spring 2006

Professor:
Office:
Mailbox:
Email:
Phone:
Class Meetings:
Office hours:

Samir Chopra
1214 Ingersoll Hall
2109 Ingersoll Hall
schopra@sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu (the best way to get in touch)
718.951.5000 (X2044)
Tuesday-Thursday: 3:30 PM 4:45 PM (234 New Ingersoll Hall)
Tuesday: 5-6 PM (or by appointment)

An electronic copy of this syllabus can be found at:

www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~schopra/teach.html
Exceptions to Class Schedule: We will not meet on February 21st (college follows Monday
schedule), April 18th ,April 20th (Spring Break).
Read this syllabus carefully. It contains answers to the questions you will raise during
the semester.
Required Textbooks
(SML) Richard A. Spinello, Cyberethics: Morality and Law in Cyberspace, Jones and Bartlett
Publishers, Massachusetts, 2005. ISBN: 0-7637-0064-9
(ST) Richard A. Spinello and Herman T. Tavani, Readings in Cyberethics (2
and Bartlett Publishers, Massachusetts, 2005. ISBN: 0-7637-2410-6

nd

ed.), Jones

Book website: http://www.jbpub.com/cyberethics

Introduction
Any technology brings with it an attendant ethical debate: the appropriate uses of the
technology, the challenges it raises for traditional ethical theories, its effect on social
norms and structures and so on. Any mature technology must train its practitioners to
become familiar with the ethical debates associated with the field. Recognizing this,
premier computer science professional societies such as the Association for Computing
Machinery have long made Computers and Ethics an integral part of curricular
recommendations. Computing raises an interesting set of challenges because of the
rethinking it forces of many established norms (the nature of production, the kinds of
economies created, the social and political change it enables or disables and so on).
This class' task is to make students aware that as computer professionals designing,

using and maintaining computing technologies they have a special responsibility to

understand the ethical issues that those technologies raise. This concern extends to users
of the technology as well. In this class we will focus on the following areas: regulation
and laws, free speech, privacy, security and codes of conduct for computer scientists. To
enable a systematic assessment of arguments made in this sphere, we will apply
traditional ethical theories such as virtue ethics, utilitarianism, or deontological theories
to debates in computing technology.
Course Requirements
This is a writing-intensive class. Expect to do lots of reading and writing. It is not an
easy class because there wont be any programming. Writing good essays is as hard and as your employers will let you know, as important - as writing good code.
Attendance and Participation: 25% of the final grade
Paper Assignments: 75 % of the final grade (3 assignments each for 25 %)
Assignment Guidelines
For writing assignments, you will have two weeks to work on your answers. If you
experience any difficulty with the questions, come and talk to me. I will not accept
late assignments. Do not ask me for extensions.
I do not accept emailed assignments. This means you cannot send me attachments. If
I receive an email with an attachment I will delete it.
All papers must be handed to me in class the day the assignment is due. Or left in my
mailbox if you cannot attend class on the day the paper is due. No exceptions; the
same rule applies to everyone. Once again, do not ask me for exceptions.

There will be no 'extra-credit' assignments. You can resubmit one paper for a
regrading. The grade you receive on the regraded paper will replace the original
grade.

If you plagiarize a paper and it is very easy to catch plagiarism you fail the class.
There will be no exceptions.
Attendance

If you miss 2 classes, you lose 5 of the 25 points for attendance and class participation.
If you miss another, I will take another 5 off. So, do the math: if you miss 6 classes,
you lose all 25 points.

 Not attending classes means a lower grade in your papers, because you will have
missed the classroom discussion necessary to write high-quality analytical papers.

I will occasionally conduct snap-quizzes on the readings.

Be on time. There is nothing more disruptive than a constant stream of late arrivals,
opening the door, walking in and settling down. You disturb me and the rest of the
class.
Classroom Participation
Participation in class discussion is of paramount importance. Your understanding of
topics will be best displayed by asking intelligent, well reasoned questions, raising valid
objections to arguments and displaying an awareness of issues raised in assigned
readings. Nothing you say in class will cause your grade to be lowered. Asking questions
about the lectures and the readings will aid your understanding of the material, and
help me as well.
Each class discussion will build upon previous sessions. Absence from a class means
that you will not profit from the class discussion and that your ability to answer exam
questions and write relevant papers will be diminished.
The classroom is not the place for tirades, personal attacks and hostile polemics. If you
have a point to make, express it as a reasoned argument. Otherwise, I will not take you
seriously (and neither will anyone else in the class).
Blackboard Discussion Forums
We will use discussion forums on Blackboard for online discussions. Every student must
write weekly on Blackboard with a comment on the weeks reading. This will count
towards your attendance and participation grade. Use the discussion forums to post
links to online articles that you find interesting (I'll do the same). Use Google News,
Yahoo News or slashdot.org to find news articles on technology. To use Blackboard you
must log in through the CUNY Portal at: http://portal.cuny.edu (if you don't have a
login ID (just your Brooklyn College Email ID), then the Portal will help you create one).
Consult the handout I'm giving out today for any other questions you might have.

Grade Scale
90-100: A
85-89: A 80-84: B+
75-79: B
70-74: B 65-69: C+
60-64: C
55-59: C 50-54: D+
45-49: D
40-44: D 0-39: F

Class Mailing List

Go to www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/cis/majordomo/?cis12_spring06, pick the subscribe
(default) option (the list name is CIS12W_spring06) and enter your email address.
Subscription to the class mailing list is mandatory. Any student not registered at the
end of the first week of class will lose a grade on the first writing assignment.
Readings
All readings listed below are required in that they can, and will be, the subject of questions asked
on writing assignments. The more you read this semester, the more you will get out of
this class. The topics covered in this class are not simple, and require considerable
diligence in reading the material indicated. If you find the vocabulary unfamiliar, work
with a dictionary. If you find material hard going, dont worry, it is meant to be hard.
Work through the readings closely, and, if need be, more than once.
Your classroom experience will be immeasurably enhanced and enriched if you come to
each lecture having worked through the indicated readings. Conversely, the classroom
experience will be considerably diminished if you insist on coming to class unprepared.
If you do not do the readings every week, you will not follow the lectures and you will
almost certainly receive bad grades on the writing assignments.
All readings below are from the ST text unless otherwise indicated. I will occasionally
provide additional readings either by sending you a link to a webpage or by giving you
a handout in class. These readings will also be required.

The Basic Issues

(ST) Introduction to Chapter 1

Moor, What is Computer Ethics, at:
http://www.southernct.edu/organizations/rccs/resources/teaching/teaching_mon
o/moor/moor_definition.html

Bynum, Ethics and the Information Revolution

(SML Chapter 1) Spinello, Preface and The Internet and Ethical Values

Regulating the Internet

(ST Chapter 2) Introduction to Chapter 2

(SML Chapter 2) Spinello Governing and Regulating the Internet
Lessig, The Laws of Cyberspace
Post Of Black Holes and Decentralized Law Making in Cyberspace
Rosenberg, Filtering in the United States: Free Speech Denied?
ACLU, Fahrenheit 451.2: Is Cyberspace Burning?
(SML Chapter 3) Spinello, Free Speech and Content Control in Cyberspace
Intellectual Property

(ST Chapter 3) Introduction to Chapter 3

Notes on the DeCSS Case
Boyle, A Politics of Intellectual Property
McFarland, Intellectual Property, Information and the Common Good
Warwick, Is Copyright Ethical?
Raymond, The Cathedral and the Bazaar

 (SML Chapter 4) Spinello Intellectual Property in Cyberspace

Spinello, Digital Music and Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
Readings from: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html#Laws
Richard Stallman: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/misinterpreting-copyright.html
Richard Stallman: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/shouldbefree.html
Privacy

(ST Chapter 4) Introduction to Chapter 4

(SML Chapter 5) Spinello, Regulating Internet Privacy
Nissenbaum, Toward an Approach to Privacy in Public
Moor, Toward a Theory of Privacy in the Information Age
Fulda, Data Mining and Privacy
(Class Handout) Lawrence Lessig on Privacy
http://www.w3.org/P3P/
Security

(ST Chapter 5) Introduction to Chapter 5

(SML Chapter 6) Spinello, Securing the Electronic Frontier
Tavani, Defining the Boundaries of Computer Crime
Manion, Terrorism or Civil Disobedience: Towards a Hacktivist Ethic
Denning, Cyberterrorism
JeanCamp, Web Security and Privacy
Professional Codes of Conduct

 (ST Chapter 6) Introduction to Chapter 6

Buchanan, Ethical Considerations for the Information Professions
Epstein, The Wheel
Weckert, Lilliputian Computer Ethics
Course Objectives
Goal: Understanding the ethical issues in computing.
Learning objectives: By course-end the student will be able to understand and evaluate
arguments pertaining to the analysis of ethical issues as they arise in the following areas:

Technology as an agent of social and political change

Regulating the Internet
Privacy and anonymity of computer users
Copyright and patent law as applied to software
Security on the Internet
Codes of professional conduct for computer professionals
Goal: Effective Writing
Learning objectives: Ability to express ideas clearly in writing, which includes the
ability to:

Use writing to reflect on one' s learning and to understand difficult material.

Demonstrate philosophical and ethical arguments in writing